Exploring the effects of health information seeking on e-satisfaction in online health communities: an empirical investigation

BACKGROUND: Online health communities (OHCs) are becoming effective platforms for people to seek health information. Existing studies divide health information into general and specific information in OHCs. However, few studies discuss the effects of different types of information seeking in OHCs on users’ electronic satisfaction (e-satisfaction). OBJECTIVE: This study explores the effects of general and specific information seeking on users’ e-satisfaction with OHCs through the mediating roles of perceived benefits and costs drawing on the social information processing theory and the social exchange theory. METHODS: This study conducted an online survey to collected data from individuals who used OHCs to seek information. The structural equation model was used to analyze the collect data and the research model. Specifically, this study examined the common method bias and conducted a robustness check. RESULTS: Results show that general and specific information seeking affect e-satisfaction through the mediating roles of perceived benefits and costs. An interesting result is that general information seeking has a stronger effect on e-satisfaction than specific information seeking. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that e-satisfaction should be further enhanced by information seeking as online healthcare practices evolve and change. Managers of OHCs should focus on increasing users’ perceived benefits, thereby increasing their e-satisfaction. Besides, this study discusses implications, limitations, and future research directions.